26th Hunger Games
by Hermione Evans
Summary: They thought it would be disappointing. It was up to the game-makers to prove them wrong. SYOT closed. Rated for death.
1. Chapter 1

**Please send your tributes as I've only had one so far!**

**_Elsie Nancia, 16, Capitol_**

The 25th hunger games was a hit; none of my friends wanted the 26th to be a let-down. The game-makers had promised something special. I was saving up to sponsor my favourites. The reapings were commencing in a few days; my friends and I had began preparing the "Games room"- a small room of the hall into which, I'd crammed a fridge, two sofas and a TV I had saved up to buy for two years- much to my annoyance when my favourite tribute was just a sponsorship away from winning. I'd stocked up my popcorn, plumped my pillows- This had better be good.

**SYOT open!**

**Name: **

**Age:**

**Gender:**

**Top three districts:**

**Reaped or volunteered? (If volunteered, why?)**

**Appearance:**

**Home life: School (if any):**

**Work (if any):**

**Friends (if any):**

**Family (if any)**

**Love life (if any)**

**Likes and dislikes:**

**Hunger games: Token (if any):**

**Opinions on the games:**

**How do they feel about going into the games:**

**Alliances:**

**Open to friends?:**

**Open to romance:**

**Training strategy:**

**Bloodbath strategy:**

**General strategy when in the arena:**

**Fight or flight?:**

**Sponsors strategy:**

**Fears:**

**Strengths:**

**Weaknesses:**

**(Optional) Who have they promised to win/ who are they trying to win for?**

**Anything else:**

**This isn't to do with your tribute, but more about how you want me to write this story-**

**Would you rather have regular short chapters or space out longer ones?:**

**Would you like to have regular POVs of Elsie, the capitol girl?**

**I'll be doing a sponsoring system- PM me a paragraph, no more than 200 words, on why you think you tribute should win- not why they CAN win, why they SHOULD- and the best ones will get 1000 coins! To give you a idea of how much that is:**

**300 coins= a pot of medicine**

**500 coins=a meal that can easily last for 2 days**

**1000 coins= a badly needed weapon**

**You can do this once a chapter. Good luck!**


	2. Chapter 2- the tributes

District 1

Male:Granite Draxler (18)

Female: Emily Scott (18)

District 2

Male: Caesar Augustus (18)

Female: Terra Cantrell (15)

District 3

Male:Jules Lovelace (16)

Female:Hope Russell (14)

District 4

Male:Poseidon Odesus (18)

Female:Isis Loire (15)

District 5

Male:Phyrus Eucaraids (12)

Female:Shady Clips (15)

District 6

Male: Streamer Downs (18)

Female: Kyva Barnette (13)

District 7

Male: Axel Bayer (18)

Female: Maria Susan (15)

District 8

Male:Aeren "Shiny" Stitch (15)

Female: Melissa Rickson (13)

District 9

Male:Arley Barrow (16)

Female:Ceres Kindle (15)

District 10

Male: Joshua Nelson (14)

Female: Luna Smith (15)

District 11

Male: Duncan Row (17)

Female: Solstice Rise (16)

District 12

Male:Plaxis Marbourgh (17)

Female:Pathea Rider (16)

Thank you so much to everyone for the tributes.

**Update- Since I have now filled D1, I will be starting the reapings. If you have anything wrong with how I portray your character, please PM or review! Keep sending in the tributes! Enjoy!**

**Update no.2- All female positions are filled! There are 5 more males, so please fill them in!**

**Update no.3- All positions filled! I am so sorry if your tribute didn't get in! Reapings on the way!**

-Hermione Evans

*With sponsors, it DOESN'T HAVE TO BE YOUR OWN TRIBUTE TO SPONSOR THEM. Also, when I said you could write in to sponsor them once a chapter, you don't get sponsors every time you write in. E.g: X writes in. I sponsor them 500. X then writes in for the following chapter. It is better, and I decide to now sponsor them 700. X's tribute now has 700, NOT 1200. (If what X writes in is worse, he still gets 500). If two people sponsor one tribute: Y also sponsors X's tribute. Y's sponsor letter earns X's tribute 300.X's tribute now has 100. Also,if the sponsor money is already paid: X's tribute survives the bloodbath. I spend the 1000 on a spear or something. Y writes in with a better sponsorship letter, which I give 500. X's tribute now has 200 in the sponsor pool to spend on medicine etc.

Get it? I know it's confusing. You can sponsor as many tributes as you like but only once a chapter. Happy Hunger games, and may the odds be ever in your favour.


	3. Emily Scott, 17, D1- Pre-reapings

Emily Scott, 17, District 1

I secure the belt of knives around my waist, and nod to the trainer, a curved knife poised in my hand. I bend my knees as the trainer flicks the switch an I am plunged into darkness.

The darkness lasts only for a millisecond, then I am plunged into a hologram of a cornucopia, surrounded by 6 other holographic "tributes". They pulse, one, two, three and begin to move towards me weapons raised.

As I have been taught, I go for the weakest first; a small boy holding aloft a wobbling sword. I flick a knife towards his neck. The hologram holds up his left hand "instinctively" to protect himself and my knife hits his wrist. It falls to the ground in a pool of blood. I shiver. I know it's not real, but it's horrible that this sort of innocent child could be plunged into the horror of the games.

In the split second whilst I am thinking about this a tribute grabs me from be hind. It's cutting off my air supply. I can feel from it's body pressed against that it's male, so I instinctively flick up the heel of my boot to hit him in the crotch. As he releases me, I pull out a long knife, swing round and slice off his head. Another tribute, female this time, approaches me from the left. Using the same knife, I ram it into her throat.

Over by the cornucopia, the two remaining tributes stand. One is bending down to fetch supplies. The other is raising a axe to decapitate the first. I haul a knife into the back of the second.

Big mistake.

The first hologram is nearly flattened by the one I just killed. She lets out a yelp of surprise, and spots me. As she stand up, I curse under my breath. She's _huge_.

She lets loose an arrow, and it hits my leg. It flairs with pain, but I know it's not real. I know that when I finish the hologram, it will go away. I head towards the forest. That's where I'm most happy.

The hologram girl follows me. She swings a sword at me and I raise a knife to deflect it. Still poised to attack, we pause. A roaring fills our ears. I swivel.

Okay, my greatest weakness? I can't actually swim. The wave crashes over me and I am forced to my knees. The water is filling up my lungs. I curl up on the soil as my vision blacks out.

But then, of course, it stops, as I knew it would. My trainer, along with my best friend Amelia Adams, her black hair tucked behind her ears. They help me sit up as my lungs convulse, desperately trying to get rid of water that was never there.

"What is _up_ with you?" asks my (ever sympathetic) partner in crime, Amelia, cuffing me on the shoulder that my nose hits my knees. "You haven't died in a holo for years!" She stands up, apparently assured that I am fine. "I gotta go change. See you at home before the reaping?"

I nod weakly. She rolls her eyes, tosses her axe at the weapons rack where it secures itself on the hook (still haven't worked out how she does that) and struts out.

My trainer turns to me. " You are good, you know, except the whole "faints at the sight of water thing"," he tells me (Tell me about it- I'm just surrounded by understanding people.) "We haven't got any 18 year old girls who are planning to volunteer each year, and Amelia wants to wait to next when she's at her physical prime. Would you volunteer?"

I stiffen. I have never even considered volunteering. I despise the games. "I don't think I'm quite ready yet. The kid who gets reaped this year is on their own."

My trainer stands up and I rise to be beside him. "You are good enough," he says seriously, "but it's your own choice. Good luck at the reapings."

I nod at him and turn to go home. I live with Amelia. God knows who my dad was. I don't know a whole lot more about my mum,to be honest. I was rather left to my own devices. The most she ever participated in my wellbeing was to give me a o Amelia for food. When I was 8 I couldn't stand it anymore and ran away to Amelia's. I doubt my mum's noticed yet.

As I open the front door, Amelia's mum greets me. I love Amelia's parents. They have welcomed me as a daughter since I arrived, paid for my training, and asked me to call them Mum and Dad. Mum offers me a brown paper parcel. "Ooh, what's this?"

"Your reaping dress, sugar. I picked it out myself."

"Aw, thanks mum," I say, giving her a quick hug, before running up to my double room which I share with Amelia.

The dress really is gorgeous. It's sailor style, and the navy trimming really brings out my eyes. I know I'm pretty, and loads of boys at school have crushes on me (when I go- It's not like they teach us anything new), but I don't really have a boyfriend, not since Bran, anyway.

Bran was my boyfriend. I had known him all my life, and he had supported me through the distance to my real mum. But, two years ago, he got reaped, and was brutally murdered by the careers. I would never sink that low- hunting like a pack of wild animals.

I clip my locket with a picture of Bran in it round my neck, and head towards the square for the reaping.

**Hi guys,**

**Sorry this took so long, people kept closing the window whilst I was in the middle o****f writing this,** **so this is probably my fifth draft. Just so you know, there will be 25 ****shortish chapters about this size before the blood bath- **

**Pre-reaping- D1**

**Reaping -D2**

**Goodbyes -D3**

**Train ride- D4**

**Elsie's opinion so ****far**

**Chariot ride -D5**

**Training day 1-D6**

**Training day 2-D7**

**Training day 3-D8**

**Gamemakers sessions-D9**

**Interviews-D10**

**The night before the games-D11**

**Helicopter ride-D12**

**Hope to get the next chapter up soon! Enjoy!**


	4. Granite Draxler and Terra Cantrell

Granite Draxler, 18, District 1

"Just remember, son: you need to impress the gamemakers. You're a muscular boy; you don't have the option of playing the weakling. If you get a bad score, you'll look like a pretty face who lifts weights in his spare time to impress girls." I snort so hard that the sword nearly drops to the ground. My father shoves me roughly, and I return to hitting at the dummy which is swinging in front of me; my father circles us both.

"Use the _side of the sword_! This is the games. You want to kill, not injure!" I swivel the sword and slice the dummy in two. "That's what I want to see!" he roars, clapping my back. I stare at the legs of the dummy, rolling around on the floor. "Sit," he commands, pointing at a old chair in the corner of the room. I sit in it. "In the games, you must form alliances. I recommend the careers. They'll have your back but be prepared to turn on them at any moment. Hit it up with the ladies. Capitol women are very easily persuaded by a smile and a pair of biceps. Mostly, make the most of it. We didn't have such opportunities when I was your age. Enjoy yourself." He flashes me a smile. "Now, go get changed for the reaping. Actually, have a shower first; You don't want peoples first impression of you to be that of the boy with bad hygiene!" I grinn at him and went up to shower.

As I soap off, I allow myself to think of what it will be like to be in the arena. There will be killing- that will be fun. I've never killed anyone before, except dummies and training human-mutts. There will be hunger- not so fun. But hopefully I will be reigning over the cornucopia with the other careers, so that won't be an issue. Then, there will be all the other tributes. "Don't get too attached. Friend one day, corpse the next," my father told me. I know the ladies love me, but I won't let that get in the way of me winning.

As a thought floats into my mind, I curse. There are about three girls I'm supposed to be accompanying to the reaping. Ah well- I'll just ditch them. I have more important things to think about and, besides, it's not as if I'm ever going to see any of them again until I am a victor, and then they won't dare go anywhere near me.

In the corner of the bathtub, There is an enormous daddy long legs. I groan- I'll never have to deal with this in the capitol. I unhook the shower head and point it at the spider. It curls up in a ball. and spirals towards the plug. Life and death are so easy; is this what it would be like to be a gamemaker? To have fragile lives at your mercy? I wish I could work in the capitol- but the closest I was getting began today.

I clamber out of the shower, knot a towel around my groin, and allow my thoughts to wander to my victory. I will be crowned, and my father will be proud; so proud. This is what he has been pushing me towards since Mother's death.

My mother died giving birth to my baby sister. A life for a life, you might think, but my sister died hours later, nameless. In my darkest moments, the question creeps up on me: why couldn't they be satisfied with one child?

I look, with a pang at my heart, at the un-made bed. Would there be a fresh set of reaping clothes, lovingly made by my mother? Would she be happy with me volunteering? It's what I want; to kill, to win; but was it my decision? I suppose my father was the driving force behind my decision... I change into a clean shirt and trousers that aren't jeans, and set off towards the reaping. I meet up with Topaz, my friend from training.

"So, big day!"

"Yeah," I reply.

"Aren't you supposed to be meeting... Lauren? Was that her name?"

"Probably. There were a few others as well, but I decided I have bigger things to worry about."

"Georgina was saying something..."

"Hmmm... I think that was last week. Anyway, too late now, look, we're here," I say, pointing to the square.

Suddenly Topaz hugged me. "Dude, I know we're having an 'I'll miss wu fowever and ever' moment," I drawl, pushing him away, "but don't do that. It's soppy. Plus, I'll see you after the reaping anyway."

"Ok. See you then."

"See you then."

Terra Cantrell, 15, District 2

"Terra?" asks Eri, sucking her thumb where the peacekeepers pricked it a minute ago.

"Mm hmm?" I mumble as we head towards the "fifteen year-old girls" section.

"You're going to volunteer, aren't you?"

"Yep," I reply, untroubled, striding confidently to the front of my section so I can make a run for the stage.

"Why?"

"I dunno... I guess it just gives me a good vibe. They're... fascinating. I reckon you see people's life story by watching them die and realise all the things they never accomplished."

"I guess. I'll miss you, though."

I scowl at her. "Charming."

"Whilst you're in the games! Whilst you're in the games! I'll see you when you come home. As will George James," she grinned, nudging me."

"Urgh! For the last time, I don't like him."

"You so do."

I open my mouth to retaliate, but just then, Hibune Abaroa, our escort, taps the microphone. "Hello? Hello, everyone! I can see you are all excited for the reaping, but, first, we must appreciate why we are all here..." I zone out, and scan the crowds for Claspio, my younger brother. I spot his spikey hair brown hair (similar in shade to mine), and see that he is looking for me too. I cough loudly to catch his attention as Hibune cries,"... and obliterated the thirteenth!" (She is really getting into this). His head flicks in my direction, and I give him a thumbs up. He beams at me nervously and turns back to Hibune. At 12, this is his first reaping; Mother never let him go before. Father died when he was working as a peacekeeper. It was a noble death; there was no way I'd have preferred him to die.

I tug at the skirt of my reaping dress. When will this speech end? I surreptitiously get ready to sprint.

After what seems like hours, Hibune totters over to the girl's bowl, her green afro brushing the peacekeepers in the face. "Our female tribute for this year is..." she struggles to unfold the scrap of paper. "Anna-" I don't wait for her to finish. "I volunteer as tribute!" I scream at the top of my lungs. Unfortunately, so does another girl from the 18 year old section. We both sprint towards the stage. She is ahead of me; so, like the mature person I am, I stick my boot in front of her legs. She falls flat on her face, and I hear her nose break. I bolt up onto the stage. "Hello, I am Terra Cantrell and I am your female tribute this year!" Cheers echo around the square. I wave at them triumphantly, already feeling like a victor.

**Hi guys,**

**So a few of you have asked me to do multiple POVs a chapter. In the games, I will hopefully do 3-4 but right now I'll stick to 2-3 so you can really get to know each tribute.**

**Also, I have had a request for alliances, which I think is a great idea. Tomorrow, I'll post a list on my page with all the personalities (If you are particularly against your tribute being put up, please PM or review!). I will post any requests there and, again, please respond by PM or review.**

**K****eep reading!**

**Hermy xxx**


	5. Caesar Augustus and Hope Russell

Caesar Augustus, 18, District 2

Blood races through my veins as the silly capitol woman with her bouffant, neon green hair (which lacked as much subtlety as she did personality) claws at the scraps of paper. The girls are reaped first, of course- the scrawny thing chosen is quickly replaced by two volunteers. The girl who eventually gets chosen only gets to the by tripping up the other. I almost laugh at her juvenile behaviour, but I know I am above such common humour.

I know I can- I will rule the district, one day. My father tells my so. My natural authority comes from my clear Roman heritage- my long nose, my blonde hair and my tall stature all come out of ancient Italy. Even my name- Caesar Augustus- is the name of a ruler of Rome. Some people deny the beautiful Latin pronunciation of my name, and pronounce it seize-her. Kai-sar. That is how you pronounce my name.

I turn my coin around in my palm. It is a gold coin from my ancestors in ancient Rome. The edges are worn thin, and it bears the face of a Roman emperor with laurel leaves circling his hair. It has been handed down through the generations, and it will follow my journey in the arena- the journey that will make me known and will begin my path towards conquering the district.

My attention snaps back to the reapings as the capitol woman totters over to the boy's bowl. How on earth can she stand up in those heels? She sticks her colourful talons into the bowl, her arm twisting in absurd angles. "Atlas Evans?" she squawks in her capitol accent, raising her head and skimming the crowd; her fuzzy green hair trails languidly behind like smoke off a match. I was going to push to the front, but the other boys have already cleared a path for me. "I volunteer as tribute," I call, and stride up to the stage confidently. I don't even yell. The sheer force in my voice silences the few feeble voices who get as far as "I-".

The juvenile girl rolls her eyes as I climb the steps. I know that look too well. It says, "Oh look, it's the power hungry freak from the north side of the district." I know this because some bad-mannered people say it aloud. As I approach the microphone, I look down at her. Although she isn't exactly small, I clear her height by nearly a foot. She shivers and breaks her gaze.

The capitol woman claps her manicured paws together with glee. "Excellent, two volunteers! What's your name, Honey?"

I give her a look to tell her how patronising she is. "Caesar Augustus," I say.

"Bless you," says her juvenile girl, smirking. "Do you want a cough drop?" The crowd snickers. Fury rises up in me, but I quash it.

"Kai-sar," I say loudly and deliberately, tapping her forehead with my finger for each syllable. She flinches. "Or can your pea of a brain not even understand that?"

"Alright, break it up," drawls the escort woman as the crowd laughs loudly, though she looks rather excited. A peace-keeper pulls the girl away and, though I can't see, I can feel a peace-keeper pinning my arm back too. "Introducing the tributes for this year's annual hunger games!"

The crowd roars and cheers. "Tributes, shake hands." The peace-keeper still grips my shoulder as I shake her hand and, with a feeling of satisfaction, watch a shiver go down her spine.

I wave to people and cameras alike as I am escorted to the justice building by the peacekeeper who still hasn't let go of my shoulder.

Hope Russell, 14, District 3

"Oh my god. Hope!" my friend Hannah screeches, throwing herself onto me and trapping my arms to my side in a hug so hard I begin to suffocate.

"Uh- Hannah?" I croak. "Can't… breathe…."

"Oh, sorry," she says hurriedly, throwing herself onto the table so hard she immediately leaps back up again in pain. "Ow!"

Grabbing her by the shoulders, I begin to shake her. "Hannah!" I bellow. "Calm down and sit on the bloody sofa!" She sways a little when I let her go, eyes closed, but then shakes her head like a wet dog.

"Right. Sorry," she apologises, slowly lowering herself down onto the velvet sofa. "Oh, Hope! Are you scared?"

"No," I say sarcastically. "I am absolutely not terrified that there is a train waiting at the station to take me to my impending doom."

"Oh, Hope. I know you can survive this. You're strong, and charming, and all the boys like you."

"Do not!"

"Do too. I've seen the way boys look at you at school, and even you can tell that the baker's son- what's his name? Oh yeah- James Pacer has a crush on you."

"Yeah, well that's just weird. Did you know that he waited outside my house with binoculars once?"

"Seriously?"

"Yeah, I caught him on the way home from work."

"Ha! Anyway, he gave me this for you," giggles Hannah, producing a brown paper bag from her pocket. The sugary smell hits my nostrils.

"Ah- doughnuts!" I cry. Doughnuts are a special treat for birthdays only.

"Your favourite! Wonder how he knew. Probably watched through the window as you wrote you diary; 'Dear Diary, doughnuts, doughnuts, doughnuts.'"

"I do not have a diary!" Hannah smirks. I should really stop spending so much time with her. She knows me too well. My heart sinks as I realise that I won't see her again. "Even if I did it would be more interesting than that."

"Right. You know, in a way I'm jealous of you."

"_What?_"

"No, no just a little. I mean, you're going to the capitol. Hot water will be available at the press of a button. Food to feed a district, laid on a table set for one. Plus, you get to share it all with Jules Lovelace," she sighs.

"Ew! No! He's like, two years older than me."

"But the name! It's like fate!"

"The games are not about romance. I'll take the twins over a boy any day… oh no, but how will I look after the twins? And Dad? Hannah, since Dad got ill, I'm the only one earning. Please say that you'll look after the twins for me, and keep an eye on Dad."

"Of course I will! Have you seen my house? Nobody is going to notice two four year olds." Hannah's house is packed with cousins, aunts and grandparents. I say house- it's more like a large warehouse near the factory.

The Peace-keeper knocks on the door. "You have thirty seconds."

"Aren't the twins coming to say goodbye?"

"No, they don't even know. I left them at home with our old next door neighbour." Hannah nods, tears shining in her eyes. "Please- please don't explain to them where I've gone. Or Dad. Tell him I've gone away with work." She nods again though I can barely see from the tears shining in my own eyes.

"Time's up," says the Peace=keeper, opening the door.

"Hannah?" I sob as she leaves. "Tell them Hopey is coming home.

"I will."

I wait on the sofa for more visitors, but as I expected, no-one arrives.


End file.
